The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-07-23
STAGE AND PRESS IN CHINA.
Translated from the German for the Times
 

seemingly passive toward the Euro- pean culture, they cannot war1i oii the latter entirely, for new ideas take root with them at first slowly, but then fast and faster. Thus the press, with them. begins to hc more and more a power; newspapers are eStab- lished and even Europeans publish Chinese journals, which have mtu
 rally been edited by natives. How the press begins to invade more and more into the public life of the Chinese we will explain by the fol- ] lowing example that will at the same 1 time give us a deep insight into the i habits and customs of the Chinese The stage belongs in China to the 1 lowest class of occupation. Come dians and barbcrs are looked upon as outcasts and deiamed ones, and are not allowed to take part in the public examinations. which otherwise admit every one and open to the successful i candidates the avenue to the highest posts of honor. There played in the large commercial town of Shanghai n celebrated tragedian by the mhnc of ] Yang ' eh-L Lin. Young, handsome and an artist in his profession, he did not fail to make deep impression upon the hearts of the ladies in the audi ence, and we can say that the female population of Shanghai were enthasi- astic for the Pariah. X young lady from Canton, the daughter of a rich merchant, also saw Yang \ ch- Lin, ] gnh .l.,.,I ;n lAx-a h him nn1 according to rumor pincd away and declared she would marry no other but the actor. The story as far as we have related, is of daily recurrence, even in Europe. The follow ing how ever. is particularly Chinese:
 The father of the young lady, who had an inkling of what was 10 happen, left Shanghai promptly and returned to Canton, so as to be absent from the scene. The mother being anxious for the life and happiness ot her daughter, entered into succeessful negotiations with the actor, and soon the nuptials ot the young couple took place in legal form. X terrible excitement in Shanghai prevailed among the Can toncse They felt their honor deeply insultcd. For daughter of their city, the child of a wealthy man, had married an actor, The magistrate, or Tsehe- Iisen. of Shanghai, was Can tonese and. like his countrvmen, hated the actor: so the insulted Cantonese hastened to him, demanding the arrest of Yang Y eh- Lin and his wife, also their punishment, and desired that their marriage be declared invalid.
 The corporation of the Cantonese offered the magistrate 2n,o0utacls, equal to $40 ,000. if he would enforce the execution of the actor, only be- cause he had married the girl who
 loved him. The magistrate could not
 venture so far, but he did what was in his power, and ordered one hundred 1 lashes to be given with the bamboo reed upon the knuckles of the un- fortunate Yang. After this painful ; torture was executed the actor wa, hung up for twelve hours by hi' l thumbs. tied together, with his arml ] bent backward. To increase the agony his neck was screwed in irons, whicl ! made a particular pressure upon hi'
 larvnx. SO that the unfortunate Yang
 had for one hour the constant feeling , of being struggled. His young wifi, , did not escape punishment either; sh' was given one hundred strokes in th,
 face with leather instrument whicl
 might be compared to n tly-trap, tho , fa6e thereby becoming a dcformcd mass, leaving the different features un- recognizable; all that because two pco.
 pie who loved had married each other
 We should not forget, however, thai
 similar things took place in Europe , only few hundred years ago.
 How did the Chinese press lool upon this affair? We are not aston ,, ished that the English newspapers ex pressed their disapproval of this bar barism, but the Chinese paper, tn, Sch0mpdo, also denounced loudly th'
 cruelty of the magistrate, and de.
 manded his removal. This paper
 found support among All the Chimes of the North, while the irritated Can.
 tonese, the people of the South
 marched before the office of th' , ISchampoo and threatened to burn il , down. Here the Europeans interferec and sent safeguard before the news. papers office. The affair becam, widely known, and although the Can.
 tonese established new paper, whicl
 expressed their opinion and spoke o
 the actors position, the viceroy O. Nankin held the adverse opinion.
 The magistrate was punished, Yang
 Xab fn and bia xU if. Voro rais.a uf..l from prison, and il was officially re- cogDized that an actor is man. IL this way the press begins to exercise it's power.
 
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